Alert archive / Kentucky / Mesoscale Discussions in 2012

Mesoscale Discussion 591

April 26, 201267 counties in Kentucky; 23 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 26, 2012, 1:23 PM CDT for 67 counties in Kentucky; 23 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 2012, 1:23 PM CDT (18:23 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 2012, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 90 counties

Adair County, KY, Allen County, KY, Barren County, KY, Bath County, KY, Bell County, KY, Boyd County, KY, Boyle County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Butler County, KY, Caldwell County, KY, Calloway County, KY, Carter County, KY, Casey County, KY, Christian County, KY, Clark County, KY, Clay County, KY, Clinton County, KY, Cumberland County, KY, Edmonson County, KY, Elliott County, KY, Estill County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Garrard County, KY, Graves County, KY, Green County, KY, Greenup County, KY, Hart County, KY, Jackson County, KY, Jessamine County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Larue County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Lawrence County, KY, Lee County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Lincoln County, KY, Logan County, KY, Lyon County, KY, Madison County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Marion County, KY, Marshall County, KY, Martin County, KY, McCreary County, KY, Menifee County, KY, Metcalfe County, KY, Monroe County, KY, Montgomery County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Muhlenberg County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Powell County, KY, Pulaski County, KY, Rockcastle County, KY, Rowan County, KY, Russell County, KY, Simpson County, KY, Taylor County, KY, Todd County, KY, Trigg County, KY, Warren County, KY, Wayne County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Cheatham County, TN, Clay County, TN, Davidson County, TN, DeKalb County, TN, Dickson County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Henry County, TN, Houston County, TN, Humphreys County, TN, Jackson County, TN, Macon County, TN, Montgomery County, TN, Overton County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Robertson County, TN, Scott County, TN, Smith County, TN, Stewart County, TN, Sumner County, TN, Trousdale County, TN, Williamson County, TN, Wilson County, TN

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:26 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 162 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2012-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 824 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2012-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 317 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
824 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-212 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
986 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
317 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
344 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
9.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

242 
ACUS11 KWNS 261823
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 261823 
KYZ000-WVZ000-OHZ000-VAZ000-TNZ000-ILZ000-262030-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0591
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0123 PM CDT THU APR 26 2012

AREAS AFFECTED...SRN/ERN KY...NRN TN

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH LIKELY 

VALID 261823Z - 262030Z

TSTMS SHOULD INITIATE ALONG A WEAKLY CONVERGENT COLD FRONT DROPPING
SEWD ACROSS KY. A MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS AMIDST STRONG
DEEP-LAYER SHEAR WOULD BE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS/ORGANIZED
CLUSTERS PRIMARILY PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS.
THE PROBABILITY OF A WW ISSUANCE IS 80 PERCENT BY 20Z.

18Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACED AN ARCING COLD FRONT FROM NEAR UNI TO 20
S LEX TO PAH. SURFACE WINDS HAVE LARGELY VEERED TO W/SWLY IN THE
WARM SECTOR...LIMITING CONVERGENCE ALONG THE BOUNDARY. BUT CU APPEAR
TO BE INCREASING IN THE FRONTAL ZONE...AND ASCENT SHOULD BE AIDED BY
A WEAK MID-LEVEL IMPULSE/SPEED MAX MOVING SE ACROSS THE MIDWEST/OH
VALLEY. ABUNDANT STRATOCU HAS RESULTED IN BROKEN TO OVERCAST CLOUD
COVERAGE OVER MUCH OF TN AND EXTREME SRN KY. BETWEEN THIS STRATOCU
DECK AND THE FRONTAL ZONE WOULD BE THE MOST LIKELY ZONE OF TSTM
INITIATION IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. WITH A BROAD SWATH OF LOWER
TO MIDDLE 60S SURFACE DEW POINTS...MLCAPE OF 1500 TO 2500 J/KG IS
PREVALENT. GIVEN EFFECTIVE SHEAR AROUND 40 KT...THIS SETUP SHOULD
YIELD A FEW SUPERCELLS/ORGANIZED CLUSTERS PRIMARILY PRODUCING LARGE
HAIL ALONG WITH LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS.

..GRAMS/THOMPSON.. 04/26/2012

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...RLX...MRX...JKL...ILN...LMK...OHX...PAH...MEG...

LAT...LON   36698874 37088851 37398633 37798485 38558332 38578279
            38408254 38028241 37738243 36628354 35848606 35938750
            36288858 36698874

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 25, 10:11 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bath, Boone, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle and 72 more2 hr
Apr 26, 12:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bourbon, Boyle and 53 more6 hr
Apr 26, 2:23 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Barren, Boyle, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler and 30 more97 min
Apr 26, 4:07 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Clay, Knox, Laurel, Leslie, McCreary and 1 more83 min
Apr 26, 5:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCMcCreary, Wayne, Whitley3 hr
Apr 26, 6:24 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Harlan, Leslie, Letcher, Perry96 min
Apr 26, 2:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Breathitt, Calloway and 42 more6 hr
Apr 26, 3:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Breathitt, Clay and 26 more83 min
Apr 26, 5:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Breathitt, Clay and 23 more95 min
Apr 26, 7:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBradley, Hamilton, Polk3 hr
Apr 26, 7:47 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Bradley, Carter, Johnson, Loudon, McMinn and 6 more88 min
Apr 26, 4:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dickson and 13 more83 min
Apr 26, 6:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradley, Polk96 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Kentucky, 2012Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 2012Every mesoscale discussion in 2012

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.